COMMUNIQUE ON POPE'S MEETING WITH AUSTRIAN BISHOPS

VATICAN CITY, 17 JUN 2009 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office yesterday published the following communique concerning the meeting of the Pope and a number of heads of dicasteries of the Roman Curia with a group of Austrian bishops. The gathering was held in the Vatican on 15 and 16 June.

  "The meeting, characterised by lively 'collegial affection', served to examine, in a fraternal exchange of ideas and with a constructive spirit, certain questions concerning the situation of the diocese of Linz and of the Church in Austria, proposing solutions to current problems.

  "The Holy Father highlighted the urgent importance of strengthening faith and of maintaining integral faithfulness to Vatican Council II and to the Church's post-conciliar Magisterium, as well as the need to renew catechesis in the light of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

  "Attention also turned to doctrinal and pastoral questions and to the situation of the clergy, the laity, the major seminaries and the theological faculties in Linz and in other dioceses of Austria.

  "The Austrian bishops thanked the Holy Father for his paternal solicitude and for this meeting, a sign of his closeness to the Church in Austria, giving assurances of their full communion and their affection. The Austrian bishops also thanked the Roman Curia for its fruitful collaboration and openness".

  The meeting was attended by the following Austrian prelates: Cardinal Christoph Schonborn O.P., archbishop of Vienna and president of the Austrian Episcopal Conference; Archbishop Alois Kothgasser S.D.B. of Salzburg; Bishop Egon Kapellari of Graz-Seckau and vice president of the Austrian Episcopal Conference, and Bishop Ludwig Schwarz S.D.B. of Linz.

  Also present were Archbishop Peter Stephan Zurbriggen, apostolic nuncio to Austria, and the following heads of dicasteries: Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops; Cardinal William Joseph Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Cardinal Claudio Hummes O.F.M., prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy; Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, and Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
OP/MEETING AUSTRIAN BISHOPS/...                VIS 20090617 (350)